The IEEE Computer Society Crowns Python as the Most Popular Language of 2024
Guido van Rossum's ABC replacement is still hitting highs, more than three decades after its launch — with a little help from the AI boom.
The IEEE Computer Society has released its annual ranking of the most popular programming languages, and there'll be little surprise to see what sits at the top of the tree this year: good old multi-functional Python, used everywhere from machine learning systems running on supercomputers to embedded microcontrollers.
"By popularity, we mean we are trying to rank languages that are in active use," IEEE Spectrum special projects editor Stephen Cass explains. "We look at three different aspects of popularity: languages in active use among typical IEEE members and working software engineers (the 'Spectrum' ranking), languages that are in demand by employers (the 'Jobs' ranking), and languages that are in the zeitgeist (the 'Trending' ranking)."
At the top of both the "Spectrum" and "Trending" rankings this year is Python, by some considerable margin. Developed by Guido van Rossum and first released back in 1991, the high-level dynamically-typed language loved by some and loathed by others for its reliance on significant indentation likely tops the charts thanks to its flexibility. While originally designed as a replacement for the ABC language, Python has grown to become the go-to for a variety of tasks — not least of which is scientific computing, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. The MicroPython and later CircuitPython forks have given Python another string to its bow, too: embedded microcontrollers.
There's one chart in which Python does not lead, although it comes in a very close second place: "Jobs," where it's edged out by the Structured Query Language (SQL) — revealing the somewhat prosaic yet exceedingly important database-heavy structure of most software stacks. Also near the top of all lists are Java and the unrelated JavaScript, which is itself being edged out of the jobs chart by TypeScript, C++ — which remains more popular than C# and standard C, though with fewer jobs available — and Go. Rust, recently highlighted by the US Government as an example of a memory-safe language that should be preferred for future projects, sits further down the charts — and, by IEEE's reckoning, you'll find it easier to get a job working with anything from Salesforce-focused Apex, Swift, and R to Dart, Groovy, Ruby, and even Mathematica.
All three charts are detailed in full on IEEE Spectrum; a separate article discusses the methodology.